


Overtime

by Treebee6



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Despair, Friendship, Gen, NG Codes, Spoilers, Swearing, virtual reality au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2020-11-08 12:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20835650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treebee6/pseuds/Treebee6
Summary: "The truth is The Killing Game was just a simulation!That’s right! None of it was real. The murders! The deaths! All of it became meaningless the moment I woke you kids up.But now it’s time for one final round, the deciding round if you may!I’m sure some of you have already noticed the special motive for this round. Those expensive bracelets you’re all wearing aren’t just for show you know."OrKokichi doesn't plan on taking the second killing game any more seriously then the first





	1. 48 Hours

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to write a story through Kokichi's perspective for a while and finally decided to give it ago.

**Wakey Wakey everyone and welcome to the _real_ Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles!**

**I’m the headmaster of this great academy Monokuma!**

**You might be wondering right now, how did I get here? Wasn’t I supposed to be dead? Didn’t the Killing Game end? The answer to that is… OF COURSE NOT!**

**The killing game will never end! Not when all our fans are still begging for more. For those of you asking, ‘how am I alive?’ the answer is simple…**

**The truth is The Killing Game was just a simulation!**

**That’s right! None of it was real. The murders! The deaths! All of it became meaningless the moment I woke you kids up.**

**But now it’s time for one final round, the deciding round if you may! **

**I’m sure some of you have already noticed the special motive for this round. Those expensive bracelets you’re all wearing aren’t just for show you know.**

**You guys all have and NG code, that is one action that that will result in a very… immediate punishment and you know how I feel about rulebreakers.**

**Of course, that’s not all, it wouldn’t be a killing game if I were doing all the killing after all. Back by popular demand you all have 48 hours before this place comes crashing down, annnd, since I’m feeling mighty generous today, all you’ve got to do to get a ticket out of here is whack a fellow classmate. **

**Why not take the time to settle old scores… Pupupu**

* * *

Kokichi died.

The memory played like tape on repeat. He couldn’t breathe. The press’s roar echoed in his head as the pressure began to build.

Crack. Pain. Darkness.

He woke up in a ruined classroom. The fact that he woke up at all was cool but not entirely surprising. Everything about the killing game had been sketchy and so he’d operated under the assumption that everything was a lie. Nobody could be trusted, except for perhaps the dead, but even the dead could lie couldn’t they. He’d tossed his motive video into a drawer the second he heard his name come from Monokuma’s mouth, the motive couldn’t be the truth and if anyone was going to fill his head with lies it would be him. That was a lie of course because he was always honest with himself.

The chair scrapped noisily against floor as Kokichi shoved himself backwards from the desk. The room looked like it had been abandoned for a while. Desks were strewn half-hazard across the room. The wooden floor was covered in scuff marks and jagged scraps, stray gum wrappers and the occasional forgotten stencil littered the floor. There were large metal plates where the windows should have been. The blackboard had writing on it in pale blue chalk: ‘Welcome 79th class’.

Beautiful scenery noted Kokichi turned his attention to the futuristic looking device on his wrist. He pressed his finger into what seemed to be the screen of the device and after a second delay an LED message was displayed. ‘**FAILURE TO PROTECT THE MASTERMIND**’ was written in red blocky letters. He had a pretty good idea of who the mastermind could be. He’d have to figure what their forbidden action was as soon as possible; he wasn’t going to leave his life in the hands of some two-bit mastermind. He couldn’t be sure they even had a forbidden action but given the nature of the game is was possible they wanted to join in on the fun.

He sighed audibly, “Lame,” he whined as he pouted towards the camera in the corner of the room.

The LED had turned off when he removed his finger which made things easier. The whole ‘colluding with the mastermind’ thing could be useful later. He ran his fingers across a desk as headed for the door, humming a tuneless melody as he took note of the fact that there was no dust on his fingertips. It was a little difficult to walk, twitchier, not to mention the general soreness one feels after being crushed to death. He was totally going to have to get his revenge on Maki for that later.

Kokichi fell quite as he exited into the empty hallway; he didn’t want to revel himself until he knew who exactly was nearby. Given that he was suddenly not dead that probably meant that Miu and Gonta were somewhere and that was something he didn’t feel like dealing with just yet. He heard some shuffling coming from around the bend of the hallway and threw his hands behind his head as he went to investigate.

He relaxed slightly when he saw a familiar head of avocado green hair. Rantaro had died before the whole Miu-Gonta thing which would make things easier. That wasn’t to say Rantaro wasn’t a threat; even if the other boy hadn’t somehow faked his death to cover his tracks as the mastermind, he was still a little too smart. The kind of guy who’d start to see thing he wasn’t supposed to if things calmed down long enough for him to understand what he was seeing. Maybe if he’d kept his mouth shut or decided to tell the truth he wouldn’t have died the way he did, in the end his inability to commit to either had made him suspicious and a prime target.

“Whooah, Rantaro didn’t you get whacked? Ah, you must be a ghost,” Kokichi gasped to grab the other boy’s attention, and began to conjure tears “Rantaro’s going to haunt me until I agree to join him as a ghost, that’s not very nice you know”

“Oma,” Rantaro wore an easygoing smile as he watched Kokichi’s display before he gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his head, “I don’t think I’m a ghost, sorry”

“That was obviously a lie,” said Kokichi expression transitioning from playful to devious as he spoke, “but you did go and die without my permission which is a crime punishable by death”

Rantaro laughed sheepishly, “I’m sorry I worried you Oma”

“Tell you what,” said Kokichi ignoring the last part of Rantaro’s statement and placing his hands behind his head and grinning, “I’ll spare your life under one condition. All you’ve gotta do is pledge your undying loyalty to me your supreme leader, _and,_ I want a piggyback ride”

“I don’t know if I can pledge my loyalty yet, but I guess I can carry you,” said Rantaro

He crouched down giving Kokichi the opportunity to climb onto his back, before straightening up. If he noticed the slight tremble of Kokichi’s body he didn’t comment on it -not that Kokichi would have acknowledge it even if he did- and as soon as he’d readjusted his grip on the smaller boy he began to make his way down the empty hallway.

They’d been about to round the bend of the hallway when Kokichi hissed at Rantaro to stop. Rantaro had simply nodded in understanding and hugged the wall near the bend, both were silent as they listened. For a second there was nothing, until the tap of quick footsteps began to echo down the hallway. Kokichi gave Rantaro a signal before climbing higher onto his shoulders to sneak a peek around the wall.

The pair waited in silence as the footsteps grew louder, tapping against the tiles in a frantic rhythm. Kokichi peered around the bend as a figure hurried by. It was Korekiyo, muttering to himself under his breath as he rushed down the hallway without even a glance in their direction. Kokichi waited until the footsteps began to fade before he released his breath, but he was pretty sure he could’ve been in the process of being murdered by Rantaro and the other boy still wouldn’t have heard him. He had a funny feeling he’d be seeing him again later.

Kokichi climbed back down onto Rantaro’s back, his arms had begun to shake from the stress he’d put on them trying to keep his balance and the last thing he wanted to do was fall from that height. Rantaro had an intense look on his face, his mouth was pressed into a firm line and Kokichi could tell he’d begun to piece together what kind of guy Korekiyo was.

“Wow, that’s a really scary face Rantaro,” said Kokichi, his voice took on a dark edge “You aren’t plotting my murder are you because you know there’s no class trial anymore. You could just off me whenever, nice and easy. You don’t even need to worry about making a mess”

The expression evaporated suddenly and Rantaro turned to look at Kokichi and let out a short laugh, “Sorry Oma, I got a little distracted,” he said, “We should see if we can find a way out of here”

“Wow, you’re head really must be empty Rantaro,” said Kokichi and then, eyes welling up with fake tears, “Here I thought we were friends and now you’re ignoring me. You’re so mean!”

“Ah, I guess I’ll have to try and be a better friend then,” Rantaro said with an easygoing smile.

“Geez, no need to get all sentimental. That was just a lie obviously,” Kokichi brought a finger to his lips, “I am the Supreme Leader of Evil. I don’t have friends only loyal minions to help spread my evil influence across the world”

Rantaro hummed in acknowledgement. Kokichi let his chin rest on his shoulder to think as they walked. Rantaro was an interesting person, which was saying something since most people fell into the predictable category. Like most people Kokichi talked to Rantaro had seemed somewhat annoyed by his lies. It was subtle but Kokichi had always had a talent for reading people. His smile had stiffened ever so slightly, and his eyebrows had furrowed just a fraction closer together.

Most people would call him out at this point or simply walk away but Rantaro had continued to play along, patient smile never leaving his face. Kokichi hadn’t been surprised to learn he had siblings; he was totally the big brother type. Rantaro had always been willing to play along when Kokichi called him big bro and asked him for favors. He’d been pretty miffed the first time Rantaro had ruffled his hair after brushing off another of his lies, caught off guard. It was that same feeling he’d gotten when kaito had called him naive during the class trial. It wasn’t the action itself that had bothered him but the lack of the usual hint that told him he was being deceived. That Rantaro could honestly believe someone like him needed to be taken care of was ridiculous.

Rantaro came to a stop in front of a large oak door. It looked out of place wedged between the metal-plated walls, like the entrance to another reality. Kokichi peered over Rantaro’s shoulder when a good 10 seconds had passed, and they were still standing in front of the door. Rantaro was eyeing his bracelet, eyes flickering between the device and the door as if something would change in the fractions of a second his eyes were elsewhere.

“Sorry Oma,” said Rantaro with an apologetic smile, “I’m going to have to let you down”

Kokichi sighed in a dramatic display as he lowered himself to the floor, his legs shook slightly before he was able to get a handle on it. “Hey, does this have to do with that fancy bracelet your wearing,” Kokichi teased, “are you forbidden from opening doors or something? Or maybe you just can’t go into rooms by yourself, I can’t believe you were just using me like that Rantaro! You’re so mean!”

Rantaro held out his hands in a placating gesture as Kokichi began to cry dramatically, tears and snot dripping down his face. “Oma, please calm down. I wasn’t using you I promise”

“Ok,” said Kokichi with a smile, tears gone as quickly as they had come, “but you have to pinky promise you’re telling the truth”

Kokichi held out his pinky a solemn expression on his face as he waited for Rantaro to reciprocate the gesture. Rantaro smile held a hint of warmth as he linked pinkies with Kokichi.

“Nee-hee, you better not have been lying cause then I’d have to set your pants on fire. I hate liars you know,” Kokichi said hands behind his head

“I don’t think I’d be able to lie to you Oma,” Rantaro said rubbing the back of his head

“Yeah liars like me know how to spot their own so don’t even try ‘kay!” sang Kokichi grabbing the handle of the door and giving it a hard shove.

If the door hadn’t been so heavy it probably would have slammed into the wall with bang, instead it swung steadily inwards before coming to a gentle stop about a foot from the wall. Kokichi wasted no time in investigating the new area, heading straight into what looked to be a library before the door had slowed to a stop. Rantaro had waited a second longer before following suit and Kokichi had caught him glancing at his bracelet again briefly after entering before taking in his new surroundings.

The irony that this was the room that they ended up in was not lost on Kokichi and with the whole ‘being watched by an audience’ theory he doubted this was just a coincidence. It was a library; shelves of books covered the walls with the uppermost books just touching the library’s high ceiling. It wasn’t exactly like the library in The Killing Game, there were tables distributed across the center of the room where shelves and stray pile of books had been, but it was the same at its core. The shadow that had crossed Rantaro’s face briefly as he’d glanced at the shelf that had once held a secret door revealed that he’d noticed as well.

While Rantaro began studying the shelf that had once been a trap door Kokichi decided to do some investigating. Chances were the mastermind had left some clues somewhere in the place; the game would be super boring without the mystery solving fun especially with the whole’ no more trials’ thing. He headed towards one of the new tables and began digging through the books, throwing anything he deemed useless onto the floor behind him.

After digging through a few tables worth of heavy books with no exciting discoveries Kokichi was beginning to grow bored of all this clue finding business. He wasn’t sure how Shuichi could do this every day without dying of boredom, then again Shuichi was a total masochist and probably got off on it. He flopped unceremoniously onto an emptyish table, wincing slightly as his back hit a leftover book. He picked on a large book he’d been lying on and had been about to toss is at a stack of books nearby to see how many he could topple when he noticed a paper sticking out of the top.

“Ugh, this is so boring,” Kokichi complained as sat up on the table and opened the book, “Have you found anything interesting Rantaro? A secret door? Ooh or maybe a corpse!”

Kokichi had to stifle a grin when a he found a folder tucked between the pages of the book. Bingo. There was a stamp on the front of the file reading ‘Property of Hope’s Peak Academy’. He propped the book at an angle that shielded the file from view and scanned the room for Rantaro. The other boy was out of sight, but he could hear shuffling coming from the corner of the library behind a large bookshelf. He pulled out the permanent marker he always kept handy and drew over the stamp in the steady black streaks were often associated with redacted information.

Satisfied with his handiwork Kokichi flipped open the folder and began to read through the files. The files were all profiles, specifically profiles of all the Ultimate students. He flipped through the files, skimming each briefly, before stopping upon reaching Rantaro’s file. Like all the files the word ‘79th Class Candidate’ were typed in bold on the top of the page. He skimmed through the file until he found what he was looking for: Talent- Ultimate Adventurer. He angled his marker and blacked out the talent in dark ink; it’d be a really boring game if all the mysteries got solved right away.

Kokichi flipped through the files one last time, committing all the interesting parts to memory and blacking out all the spoilers before pulling out his file and closing the folder. He used his marker to black out most of his file before crumpling it and shoving both it and the marker into his pocket. There was a pleasant giddiness flowing through him as he aligned the book in the center of the empty table, folder peeking out just enough for someone to spot it if they were looking for it. It was the same feeling he always got when he’d just finished preparing the last step in an elaborate prank.

“Hey, Hey! Rantaro don’t tell you’ve been murdered again,” Kokichi said as he rounded the bookshelf Rantaro had gone behind earlier.

Rantaro didn’t answer. He was staring intently up at the top of the bookshelves a thumb placed on his chin in a display of deep thought. Kokichi took a step towards him; he wasn’t sure what he was going to do yet but planned on figuring it out in the time it took to reach the other boy. Unfortunately Kokichi’s muscles didn’t get the memo that he wanted to go forwards not down, and his nerves chose that moment to light up in a series of bursts that felt a lot like a firecracker going off, sending him face first towards the floor. He barely managed to get his hands in front of him before he hit the floor with a loud slam. Rantaro had spun around, broken from his train of thought, looking shocked and slightly wary until he saw it was Kokichi and his expression melted into something more akin to cautious concern.

“Oma are you ok?” asked Rantaro offering a hand, there was a cautious edge in his frown, like he was waiting for the punchline.

Kokichi smiled as he pushed himself off the ground to his knees ignoring Rantaro’s hand, “Geez Rantaro I’ve been trying to get your attention for like an hour and you only notice now,” his tone grew mischievous as he spoke, “What were you so busy doing back here anyway huh? Plotting your revenge on the guy who whacked you, because I’m totally on board for some revenge killing”

Rantaro laughed as he rubbed the back of his head, “Sorry Oma I wasn’t trying to ignore you. It’s just something’s been bothering me about what happened in the game. I remember something hitting me, but right before that there was something strange. A shotput ball fell off one of these shelves; I went to pick it up and then…”

“Eh, really that’s what’s bothering you. Isn’t it obvious?” said Kokichi, “it was just a distraction, a red herring. The killer used to so they could creep up behind you and -WHAM- you’re dead”

“I guess it’s possible,” said Rantaro, “but you could also be lying”

Kokichi took moment to finish slotting together all implications of the new information. It made sense when he thought about it; the chances of Kaede’s luck-based scheme actually succeeding were pretty low, which meant it was probably the mastermind’s handy-work. He doubted anyone else would be allowed to break the trial rules otherwise. Then again there was also scenario where Rantaro was the mastermind all along and staged his own death.

“Who really knows,” Kokichi shrugged, “I am a liar after all”

“I haven’t found anything that could help us,” said Rantaro, “and I’m usually pretty good at finding stuff like that; I guess I’m not much help in this situation”

“Yeah you’re totally useless,” Kokichi stated cheerfully, “but so is everybody else which is why you all need me as your supreme leader to tell you what to”

“What do you think we should do?” asked Rantaro.

“No idea,” said Kokichi, “I’m _totally _lost here. Yep, things are looking pretty hopeless, but that’s what makes this game exciting!”

Rantaro opened his mouth to respond when a thumping sound came from the other side of the room followed by muffled voices. Someone was coming, multiple someone’s if the muffled voices were an indicator. The thump had been an attempt to open the door, they must’ve pulled instead of pushed. There was a muffled shout from the other side of the door that sounded a lot like Kaito.

“Ugh,” Kokichi groaned, “This is such a lame way to get caught. Rantaro you’ll cover for me right”

Kokichi didn’t wait for the other boy to answer before darting to the library’s back door and quickly slipping into the hallway. He made it in the nick of time judging by the loud slam of a door hitting a wall inside. He hurried down the hall as quickly as he could, one hand against the wall at all times just in case. He was pretty sure Rantaro wouldn’t tell but he’d rather gain some distance just in case. He was sure he’d run into Kaito at some point and he wanted to have some fun with it, the guy was terrified from ghosts and what kind of guy would Kokichi be if he didn’t _help_ him overcome his fears.

Kokichi stopped when it started to get hard to breath. He steadied his breathing, smoothing out any trace of exhaustion, when he heard the gentle tap of footsteps heading in his direction. He plastered a grin on his face and threw his hands behind his head before he spun around to face whoever it was. He shrugged off the gentle chill that ran down his spine as his eyes meet Tsumugi’s. It wasn’t the same Tsumugi from the game no while that Tsumugi had hidden behind her plainness this one seemed to radiate the confidence that came with complete control.

Tsumugi was the mastermind. There was a glint in her eyes, a sharpness in her smile, a sway in her step. All traces of just plain boring Tsumugi were gone. Her expression was predatory as her eyes raked over him, searching for anything that she could latch onto and break apart until there was nothing left of Kokichi Oma. Her eyes narrowed slightly when she found nothing.

“Tsumugi,” Kokichi greeted cheerfully, “Wow, so you were the mastermind all along I never would’ve guessed”

“Really? Then I guess I played my part well,” said Tsumugi, “but then I can’t believe anything you say Oma”

Kokichi smile didn’t waver as he took a step back to her step forwards. She was about 5 feet away now. There was still the issue of his NG code; if he didn’t know Tsugumi’s code he wouldn’t be able to prevent her from triggering it which would be an instant game over for the both of them. He glanced briefly to his right to make sure he had somewhere to go if he had to run.

His gaze lingered on his escape for a fraction too long. Tsugumi’s eyes flickered and he knew he’d been caught and so he decided to try his luck and prepared to book it. Before he had a chance to fully turn his back to her Tsumugi had his wrist in a vice grip. He put in a token effort to try and loosen her grip, but after several seconds of wiggling and tugging the only thing he’d succeeded in was getting her to tighten her grip to a bruising pressure.

“Aww you caught me,” Kokichi said sighing in disappointment.

“Sorry Oma but I’m sure you’ll want to hear what I have to say,” Tsumugi said cheerfully.

Kokichi observed with detached interest that her nails were probably going to leave a neat row of crescent shaped grooves in his wrist when this was all over.

Tsumugi continued seemingly unfazed by Kokichi’s lack of interest and pressed her finger to her bracelet and she talked, “I doubt you’ll agree to work with me if I ask you now but I’m sure you’ll make the right choice after you have some time to think about it”

Kokichi's expression was blank as he stared at the bracelet. The LED blinked up at him in a dull rhythm as they told him his role in this game. Tsumugi wore a look that declared ‘check’ as she waited for Kokichi to take his turn.

‘**KOKICHI OMA REAMINING SPOTLESS**’

“Me spotless? That’s a pretty bold statement to make to a liar like me,” said Kokichi, “As much as I’d like to join your loser party, I don’t do team ups ever. No exceptions! Sorry.”

Tsugumi’s smile was laced with suppressed annoyance as she released him, “It’s plain obvious you’re lying Oma but I’ll find out how to make you feel it one way or another. I’ll be waiting for you to come find me”

Kokichi waited until Tsumugi was out of sight before he let himself relax slightly and gave the camera next to the monitor a smile and a wave. The game was really getting interesting now.

As if on cue a bell rung from the monitors echoing across the halls as the message was relayed for everyone to hear.

**Wow would you look at the time its already been an hour. That mean you guys only have 47 more and times a ticking.**

**So, I’m guessing you guys still haven’t accepted that you’re trapped even though we’ve been over this so just to be clear… THERE IS NO WAY OUT OF HERE! **

**That’s right you’re trapped and all you’ve gotta do in order to graduate from this fine academy is a little ‘population control’ on your fellow classmates so hurry up and get a move on we’re on a tight schedule.**

**Pupupupu…**


	2. The Hero Enters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter does contain minor swearing

Kaito went to space.

The last thing he saw as his lungs gave out were the stars shining down on him. He’d died with a smile, confident that the others would be able to end the killing game without him.

Kaito woke with a gasp as his lungs greedily sucked in the air they’d been previously denied. He shot up so fast the sudden movement threw him off balance and, in his sleep-fogged state, he was unable to regain it before his chair tipped backwards, dumping him backwards onto the floor with a crash. His chest burned slightly with the traces of the coughs that had racked his body in his final moments.

Letting out a pained groan he stared up at the tiled ceiling from his place on the floor while he waited for the fog to clear from his mind. It was Monokuma’s high-pitched greeting that finally snapped him out of his daze. He climbed to his feet while he tried to reorder his memories in a way that made sense. Monokuma’s voice was grating as he scanned the room for its source. He spotted Monokuma on a monitor in the upper left corner of the room. There was a camera next to the monitor, bulky and painted bright yellow. It stood out, which was probably the point. Monokuma wanted him to know he was watching him.

He took a moment to take in his surroundings, half-listening as Monokuma rambled in the background. It looked a lot like the dining hall from the ‘simulation’, that’s what Monokuma had called it wasn’t it. Only this version of the dining hall looked like it’d been abandoned for a long time. There was plant life everywhere; the walls; the ceiled; even the table had vines coiling around it. That wasn’t the weirdest part though, there were large metal plates bolted over all the windows as well as the glass door that led outside. There was a little unnerving to see the room he’d spent so much time in over the past few days in such broken down state.

It wasn’t until Monokuma mentioned it that Kaito noticed that steel bracelet wrapped around his wrist. He fiddled with it while Monokuma finished his speech, looking for the switch or button needed to turn it on. He activated it by accident in the end when he pressed his thumb against the screen to get a better grip on the inside of the device. His satisfaction at finally turning the device faded into annoyance as he read the blocky red text.

**‘TOUCHING A CLASSMATE’**

He scoffed, lifting his finger to allow the text to fade away. Sure, Kaito had gotten a little physical during the simulation but he wasn’t a kid anymore; he didn’t need Monokuma telling him to keep his hands to himself. Whatever, whoever was behind this whole thing was probably just scared to go against someone who could fight back. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that his NG code was going to screw him over at some point.

Monokuma had finally finished his speech and while a lot of the things he said made sense he really didn’t trust Monokuma. The bear had said that everyone was alive again but as much as Kaito wanted to believe that, he couldn’t just take Monokuma’s word for it. He needed to see it for himself and if this really was their second chance, then this time he was going to everything he could to make sure everyone got out alive. Confident in his plain Kaito got up and headed for the door. The first thing he needed to do was find Shuichi, then he was sure they could figure out a way to leave the school.

The hallway was empty when he left the dining hall. The hallway split into two directions each forking into two more at their ends. He picked the left and began walking, the dark grey panels that made up the walls made it hard to tell one hallway from another. It wasn’t long before he spotted a wooden door around the next bend. There was a small metal plate just above the door that read ‘0-4’. He was just about to grab the handle when the door swung open, catching him by surprise, and Tsumugi stepped out. He caught a glimpse of… _something_ in the room before Tsumugi stepped back so that she was blocking his view into the room.

“Ah!” exclaimed Tsumugi, startled by his sudden appearance and probably his appearance in general after the 5th trial, “Kaito! I thought Monokuma was just lying about everyone being alive… but it’s plain to see that I was just plain mistaken”

“Of course, I’m alive! I’m Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars! I wouldn’t die so easily!” said Kaito with a grin

Tsumugi hummed in consideration, “It’s good that everyone’s really alive but isn’t it dangerous for people like Korekiyo or Oma to be walking around on their own?”

“There’s no use worrying about that,” said Kaito, “All of our friends are alive again and I’m sure that if we work together, we can defeat the Mastermind! There’s no use getting caught up in the past, that’s exactly what the Mastermind wants us to do!”

“I guess…” said Tsumugi nodding

“Have you seen anybody else?” asked Kaito

Tsumugi thought for a moment, finger held up in preparation to speak, Kaito had been about to repeat the question when she finally spoke, “Well… actually I did see Shuichi earlier”

“Really,” asked Kaito, “Do you know where he is?”

“Well,” said Tsumugi speaking slowly and concisely, “We were searching a classroom nearby and he said he was going to investigate. I went to go see if I could find anyone else. That was when I plainly stumbled upon this classroom and decided to look around for a bit. That way even plain old me could be useful”

“Well you really helped me out,” said Kaito, giving Tsumugi an encouraging grin, “We should look for Shuichi and see if he found anything”

“Hmm… I was thinking… maybe we should split up,” said Tsumugi after taking a moment to consider his words, “We don’t know how big this place is and there isn’t much time to look for clues. That way, we can meet up later and discuss what we’ve found when we’re all together, sort of like we did for the class trials”

“Well, if you’re sure?” Kaito said.

Tsumugi hummed an affirmation, “I think I can handle myself”

“Ok then I trust you Tsumugi,” said Kaito giving her a thumbs up, “Oh, and I don’t know what kind of messed up rule Monokuma gave you and I won’t ask you to tell me. Just be careful ok”

“Yeah, I’ll make sure to do my best so we can all leave this place together,” said Tsumugi with a smile before she turned began to walk down the hall, the gentle tap of her shoes echoing down the hall even after she had turned the corner.

Kaito started in the other direction as soon as Tsumugi had turned the corner, giving the door to classroom 0-4 a brief glance as he walked by. First things first, he needed to find Shuichi. He was sure his sidekick had already begun investigating their new situation. Shuichi really had changed a lot since the first class trial, and the final trial was proof of that. Oma’s plan had had been genius, even if he didn’t like the guy, he’d give him that, but he’d had a feeling Shuichi would be able to figure it out in the end. The guy wouldn’t give him a straight answer if Kaito asked but flipping through Oma’s script he’d wondered if he’d known his plan would be unveiled too.

Kaito felt a pang of nausea as he remembered the last moments in the hanger. He didn’t have time to really think about what he was doing at the time. He knew his time was ticking away, and he’d had to make sure he did everything he could to try and end the killing game while he had the chance. He’d followed through with Oma’s plan because of that and because the other boy was right when he said both his and Maki’s deaths would be for nothing otherwise. The sound had been awful, he hadn’t expected the sharp crack the press had made right before it stilled; the sound had echoed around the hanger even after the press had stopped moving. It had taken him a moment to quell his disgust enough to keep from throwing up all over the console before he was able to get back to the plan.

Kaito was snapped out of his thoughts when he spotted a light brown wooden door at the end of the hallway. This sign above the door read ‘0-3’ which he took to mean he was at the right place, Tsumugi had said she’d come from a classroom nearby so unless there was a ‘0-5’ somewhere he should be at the right place.

He thought the classroom was empty at first, books and scraps of paper littered the floor and the desks were thrown everywhere but there was no sign of Shuichi. He’d been about to retrace his steps in case he’d missed the room somehow when he saw a movement near the front of the room behind the teacher’s desk. He grinned when he spotted a familiar head of black hair peaking over the top of the desk.

“Yo, Shuichi,” called Kaito

Shuichi all but jumped to his feet at the sound of Kaito’s voice, his expression was what could best be described as hopeful disbelief, “Kaito”

“It’s good to see you again sidekick,” said Kaito striking a heroic pose, “Don’t look so surprised, I said I’d protect you guys and I’m not about to let dying get in the way of that promise!”

“Ah, well it’s really good to see you again Kaito,” said Shuichi, he looked happy

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask. Whatever happened after the trial?” asked Kaito rubbing the back of his head “Did you guys find the Mastermind?”

“Well It’s a little hard to explain. I still don’t know how much of what we learned was true, but the morning after the trial Keebo challenged Monokuma,” said Shuichi, “because of him we were able to search the school and discover the depths of the mastermind’s lies. I challenged Monokuma to one final trial, to uncover the truth once and for all. The Mastermind had broken their own rules in the very first trial”

Shuichi brought his hand of to his head as if to grab his missing hat, before he continued, “It wasn’t Kaede who killed Rantaro… but the Mastermind themselves after Kaede’s trap failed! We exposed the Mastermind and we were all going to be executed. Keebo destroyed the academy and himself to end the killing game once and for all. In the end only 3 of us survived, the killing game was finally over… and that was when the world warped into black. That must’ve been when Monokuma ended the simulation.”

Kaito rubbed the back of his head in contemplation after Shuichi had finished, “Wait, so then who was the Mastermind?”

“Ah, Sorry. I can’t say,” said Shuichi, a guilty look on his face as he held out his wrist to allow Kaito to read the blocky text illuminated on his bracelet.

**‘REVEALING THE MASTERMIND’S IDENTITY’**

“What a coward,” said Kaito looking at the bracelet before flashing Shuichi a thumbs up, “Man you must’ve really scared them Shuichi if they had to keep you quiet, good job sidekick!”

Shuichi blushed at the praise before glancing down at the device on his wrist, “Maki knows and so does Keebo. The Mastermind must know they’ll be found out eventually, this is probably just a distraction to keep us from banding together against the Mastermind right away. That’s why we woke up separated. The Mastermind knows they can’t beat us if we all work together”

“Don’t worry Shuichi!” exclaimed Kaito, “As soon as we find Maki Roll of Keebo and figure out who’s behind this there’ll be no stopping us!”

“Right,” said Shuichi

Shuichi looked tired. He’d spoken with passion when he’d been recounting the events after Kaito’s death but now he just looked drained. It was the same expression he’d always had after another class trial. It wasn’t quite despair, there was still a hard determination in his eyes. It was more like he’d lost sight of the finish line. It made sense he’d finally defeated the Mastermind only to set right back to square one and told everything he’d just experienced was meaningless.

“Listen Shuichi,” said Kaito tone serious, “Monokuma can go and say that everything we went through was fake or meaningless or whatever! But it’s those moments that are gonna help us take him down! If it weren’t for everyone and their sacrifices, you never would have defeated him the first time right! Now’s our chance to show Monokuma what we can do when we work together!” he paused to rub the back of his head somewhat sheepishly, “ Anyway, we should probably get going now”

“Right,” said Shuichi and though he didn’t acknowledge Kaito’s words verbally his voice had been just a little stronger than before.

Kaito led the way as the duo exited the classroom and began to make their way down the hall, continuing in the direction Kaito had been heading before he spotted the room. Kaito glanced up at the monitor as they turned the corner. There was a countdown displayed in large red numbers reading: **47:26**, a little more than half an hour had passed in the time it had taken him to find Shuichi. He wondered what the others were doing and hoped they hadn’t gotten themselves into too much trouble.

“Kaito, hold on a moment!” said Shuichi after they’d been walking for a little while

“What is it Shuichi?” asked Kaito turning to face the detective

“There’s something off about this wall,” said Shuichi motioning towards wall in front of him

Kaito walked over to Shuichi who was staring intently at a particularly large panel of the wall. It wasn’t until Shuichi stepped forward and grabbed an indent in the panel that Kaito realized it was a door. The handle was nothing more than a handhold built into the smooth metal plate. The dark grey of the door, as well as its seamless transition into the panels surrounding it, made it easy to miss. It was a good thing Shuichi had an eye for small details like that, it must be a detective thing. Shuichi gave the door a couple of pulls, but besides shaking a little in place it didn’t budge. Taking over from Shuichi Kaito grabbed the handle and after a few hard tugs and a lot of cursing the door finally opened with a low metallic scraping sound.

It Kaito were to guess what room he’d just walked into he’d probably say it was a maintenance room of some sort but even that seemed like a stretch. There were large metal pipes that went in every direction, all originating from a large metal cylinder that must have been a boiler. There looked to be a large fuse box on the wall, the lid of which was lying discarded on the floor below, as if it’d been torn off and the inside was a wreck. In fact, everything in the room seemed to be falling apart if it wasn’t already broken, the pipes had begun to rust and there was a steady drip in one of the corners of the room, the wheel valves that weren’t already on the floor spun loosely on their axes.

Shuichi went to take a closer look at the fuse box and Kaito took a step further into the room to let him pass. There was a set of cheap looking lockers sitting in the corner that must have been for the staff members who previously managed the room. The strangest part of the room was the metal table that sat in the center. There was some sort of printer, still functional if the blue LED was anything to go by, sitting in the center of the table with care. It was so out of place in the chaos of the room it was immediately suspicious.

Shuichi had moved away from the fuse box and was in the process of trying to force open the door to one of the lockers. Kaito headed over to join him, giving the printer one last curious glance as he maneuvered around it. There were two lockers. The first was empty except for a few scrapes of paper on the bottom and a large wrench on the shelf. The second was caved in in the center as if someone had hit it with something, contorting the locker so that the metal of the door was wedged tightly in its frame. Shuichi’s efforts to open it did nothing to budge the tightly warped metal.

“Don’t worry sidekick I got this,” said Kaito grabbing the handle of the locker

“Ah, Kaito wait! If you pull to hard--“Shuichi started as he backed up a few steps

Unfortunately, Shuichi’s warning came too late and when Kaito gave the handle a hard pull it snapped off in his hand, sending his stumbling backwards to keep his balance.

“Whoa!” Kaito yelped in surprise.

“Maybe we could pry it open,” suggested Shuichi, picking up a metal bar that had been lying discarded behind the boiler

“Alright, you’ve got this Shuichi!” said Kaito dropping the locker handle with a clang as he gave his sidekick an encouraging thumbs up

Shuichi nodded in acknowledgement and gritted his teeth at the effort of wedging the metal bar between the door and the edge of the locker. It took a few seconds of Shuichi wiggling and pushing the makeshift crowbar before it finally slid firmly into place. Taking a deep breath Shuichi apply pressure to the end of the makeshift crowbar and slowly the locker began to creak until all at once the door gave way slamming into the locker next to it with a metallic clang.

The second locker didn’t have much in it, much like the first. There was a screwdriver lying on the bottom and Kaito was pretty sure at this point that Monokuma had placed the tools there himself as weapons. Shuichi was holding a small black rectangle he’d found on the top shelf.

“It looks like a USB,” said Shuichi, pushing the black slider on top to expose the metal plug

“Do you think Monokuma put it there,” asked Kaito, “it seems a little weird that someone would leave something like that in here. There aren’t even any computers”

“It’s possible that Monokuma left it here for us to find,” Said Shuichi, one hand rested on his chin as he thought, “It could be a part of one of his puzzles which means there’s probably something it plugs into…”

Shuichi perked up suddenly, like he’d realized something important, and headed over to the machine in the center of the room, USB in hand. He crouched by it, running his hands along the sides before he paused, apparently finding what he was looking for. Kaito stepped closer to get a better look as Shuichi opened the USB and plugged it into the back of the machine. The LED blinked yellow then green as the machine began to whirr to life.

There was a series of metal clanks before the gentle rhythm of a document being printed could be heard. Slowly a piece of paper emerged out the top of the printer, inch by inch. Shuichi grabbed it before it could fall to the floor.

“What does it say?” asked Kaito

“I’m… not sure,” said Shuichi, holding out the sheet for Kaito to see, “It looks like some sort of code”

“Code?” repeated Kaito, taking the sheet from Shuichi

Kaito looked at the sheet of paper, and then he turned in upside down and looked again. It looked like a bunch of nonsense to him. There were a bunch of symbols in the center of the page, five lines of illegible characters with no spaces to differentiate words. It had to be a trick of Monokuma’s. There was no way anybody could read something like that.

“It looks like a bunch of gibberish to me,” said Kaito scratching his head, “Monokuma probably just put this here to mess with us right”

“It’s possible,” said Shuichi looking over the paper, “I could try to decode it later, but we should probably look for more legitimate clues for now. I think this is all we’re going to find in this room”

“Ok then, let’s go!” said Kaito turning towards the door

They walked in silence. Shuichi looked like he was still thinking about the code or whatever it was and Kaito wasn’t about to interrupt him when he was trying to do his thing. It wasn’t until Kaito turned what had to be the hundredth bend that he finally spotted something. There was a large wooden door just up ahead.

“Hey, Shuichi! Check it out!” said Kaito stepping forwards to grab the handle of the door, “maybe we’ll find something in here!”

With that he gave the door a hard tug, the door opened slightly as he pushed it only to pull back suddenly as he pulled on it, slamming had into its wooden frame

“Ah, Kaito I think you opened it the wrong way,” said Shuichi quietly

“Hah, it must’ve gotten stuck. Don’t worry Shuichi I got this!” Kaito shouted over the detective before grabbing the handle again and slamming his body into the door in an attempt to unjam it as he pushed on the handle.

Shuichi was right. The door opened with too much momentum, hitting the wall with a loud bang. Kaito came with it, following the door as it yanked him into the library behind it. Shuichi followed, closing the large door softly behind them after Kaito had walked further into the room.

Kaito finally turned to see where exactly they were and froze when he spotted Rantaro staring back at him from the other side of the room, expression as serene as always. It shouldn’t have been that shocking to see the guy alive again. Monokuma had said everyone was back, and Kaito himself had been dead not too long ago. Still, Rantaro had been gone for so long it was like seeing a ghost. He had to shrug off a shiver at the thought of Rantaro being a ghost, no Rantaro couldn’t be a ghost he was sure of it!

“Rantaro,” greeted Shuichi looking a little thrown off, “you’re back”

“Yeah, I was pretty surprised myself,” said Rantaro rubbing the back of his head, “I wasn’t really sure what to make of Monokuma’s speech but I’ve been searching the library just in case there’s something here that can lead us to the Mastermind”

“Ah, you mean like the secret door,” said Shuichi

“Yeah,” said Rantaro, looking surprised and just a little suspicious, “you knew about it?”

“Yes… Kaede and I set up cameras to try and catch the Mastermind,” said Shuichi a shadow crossing his face, “Unfortunately the Mastermind was a step ahead of us all along”

“I see, so that was you guys,” said Rantaro thoughtfully

Shuichi looked deep in thought, and if the dark shadow that still hadn’t left his face meant anything, he was thinking about Kaede again. At that moment Kaito would have normally clapped the detective’s shoulder and said something heroic to cheer him. He’d been about to do just that, when he remembered his bracelet and the flashing red lights that forbade it. He felt a little sick when he realized how careful he’d have to be not to accidentally trigger it. Someone had put way too much thought into it.

“C’mon Shuichi!” said Kaito, “There’s gotta be some sort of clue here that the Mastermind left behind!”

“Right, I’ll take a look,” said Shuichi and Kaito was pleased to note the darkness had retreated for the moment

“Hey, Kaito. Do you think you could fill me in a little on what happened after I died,” asked Rantaro crossing his arms.

“Oh yeah, well, it’s actually pretty complicated,” said Kaito, “but basically it was the Mastermind who killed you. They framed Kaede for it and she was executed in the first trial”

“I see,” said Rantaro after a moment, “Then the Mastermind broke their own rules”

Kaito went to answer when Shuichi spoke up.

“Ah, Kaito,” called Shuichi, he was holding a large book over by one of the tables, “it looks like there’s something stuck between the pages of this book”

“Really,” asked Kaito, “What is it”

Shuichi set the book on the table so everyone could see before flipping through it until he reached the right pages. There, tucked into the crease of the book, was a manila folder with a large black box drawn on the center. The first thing everyone noticed when Shuichi opened the folder was the sharp smell of chemicals. It smelled just like the permanent markers everyone always used to take turns sniffing in class back in the day. Kaito pinched his fingers over his nose before he leaned closer so he could read the file over Shuichi’s shoulder.

The first thing that caught his eye was the large picture of Kaede in the upper right-hand corner of what was labeled a ‘Student Investigation Report’. The report listed everything from Kaede’s blood type to her date of birth, her Ultimate Talent was typed in big letters next to her name. There was a dark black streak obscuring whatever was written at the very top of the page. The report went into more detail about Kaede’s personal and professional history as an Ultimate. The amount of information whoever had written the file had been able to gather was a little unnerving.

“What the hell is this?” Kaito asked.

They read on with a sense of morbid curiosity as Shuichi flipped through the pages, each with information that was far too extensive about another Ultimate student. The black streaks were found on every page. Some files had chunks of them removed while others went nearly untouched. Rantaro’s talent was notably blacked out, though the boy didn’t seem overly concerned and simply shook his head like he’d expected it. One thing all the files had in common was the black streak on the top of the sheet.

“Wait a second,” said Kaito after they’d tuned over the last file, “I feel like we missed one”

“That’s because there’s only 15 files here,” said Shuichi closing the folder, “Oma’s file is missing, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence”

“You’re saying someone took Oma’s file,” asked Kaito

“More than that,” said Shuichi brows furrowed as he pieced together his theory, “Remember when I opened the file, it smelled a lot like permanent marker. If these files were redacted like they appear to be they would be photocopies of a file that had previously been blacked out. However, you can clearly still smell the permanent marker on these pages which means someone had to done this after the files were placed here”

“Is it possible the Mastermind could have done it?” questioned Rantaro

“It’s possible, and if all 16 of the files were still here then that would be the most logical option,” said Shuichi, placing his finger on his chin as he continued his deduction, “but there were only 15 because Oma’s file was missing! It makes sense that Oma would take out his file if it held information, he didn’t want us to find. I think Oma was here with Rantaro investigating the library! Oma must have found the files first while Rantaro was searching for the secret door. He took the opportunity he had alone with them to black out whatever information he didn’t want us to know, knowing we would just assume his edits had been there all along. Once he was done, he took out his own file and left the book where he knew it would be found… Well Rantaro, you weren’t investigating alone, were you?”

“It’s true,” said Rantaro rubbing the back of his head apologetically, “Oma and I were together for a while. He ran out of here some time ago though; I didn’t see him leave”

“Damn it!” said Kaito fuming, “That little bastard! He’s still messing around!”

The sound of bells echoed through the library interrupting Kaito’s rant as Monokuma’s announcement began.

* * *

“Hello Keebo”

“Tsumugi!! What do you want?”

“Oh my, you’re very hostile. We’re on the same side you know”

“We most certainly are not! Now please do not come any closer!”

“Hmpf, have it your way. You know I think it’s time for you to take a nap for a little while”

“I may not have much physical power but if you continue to come closer, I will be forced to deploy defensive measures”

“There’s no need to make such a fuss Keebo. Just be a good little robot and stay still”

“That’s-!”

“What’s wrong Keebo? Oh, that was a little insensitive of me wasn’t it”

“Tsumugi if you come any closer, I’ll be forced to- “

“Whew, now that wasn’t so hard was it. Now come on Keebo let’s get you out of the hallway. You wouldn’t want the others to find you in this state would you”

“ … ”

“Well then, goodbye Keebo. I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter took a while to write. Figuring out how to write Kaito and Shuichi was a struggle but I gave it my best shot.


	3. The Girl's Bathroom

Kokichi winced as he poked at the marks Tsumugi had left on his wrist. He made sure to tug his sleeve down in an exaggerated movement, sighing for effect, just to make sure Tsumugi knew exactly what he thought of her manhandling. He slowed his pace when he finally ended up back in front of the library. He’d been careful when retracing his steps, senses alert for the slightest hint that anyone else was around. He crept past the library as fast as he could without making too much noise; it wasn’t until he reached the hall he’d seen Korekiyo go down earlier that he let his heels touch the floor, easing into a purposeful stride.

He threw his hands behind his head as he spotted his destination ahead of him. The faded white tiles stood out jarringly against the metallic plates surrounding the entrance to the bathrooms. Kokichi took a second to scrutinize the two doors situated at opposite ends of the indented wall, taking a step forwards to stand between them.

“eeny, meeny, miny…” Kokichi sang, spinning as he chanted the childish nursery rhyme “MOE!”

He stopped abruptly finger pointed at a still blurry door, the room spun as he took a wobbly step forwards to see what symbol was on the metal plate. It took a second for his vision to focus on the stick figure woman on the door. It was the women’s bathroom, not that that was a problem, but he was pretty sure if Gonta were around he’d be appalled. Luckily the entomologist was nowhere to be seen and Kokichi felt no shame as he went to open the door.

Pushing open the bathroom door, Kokichi stopped for a moment as the strong smell of bleach hit him like a wall. It smelled like someone had taken a few jugs of the stuff and went to town and judging by the stark whiteness of everything in the room, that was probably exactly what had happened. The tiled walls and floor were so well polished they practically sparkled. The overwhelming whiteness of the place made it easy to spot Korekiyo, dressed in dark green, staring intently at the mirror and muttering to himself by the far end of the sinks.

Kokichi let the door swing shut quietly as he took a step further into the bathroom. Korekiyo looked like he was in the middle of a very intense one-sided conversation, face pale and sweaty as he gripped the sink so tightly his knuckles had lost all their color. He was staring intensely at his reflection as he muttered, growing increasingly frustrated by the minute. Kokichi smiled as he took a quiet step closer, he had a pretty good idea who it was he was talking to-- or trying to talk to at least.

“Korekiyo!” Kokichi shouted with a grin once he was directly behind his ‘classmate’.

Korekiyo tensed instantly, straightening up as he turned to face Kokichi. His gaze was steady, and he was clearly trying his best to look calm and collected, but there was a wild gleam in his eyes that Kokichi took note of instantly.

“Oma,” Korekiyo said, there was an underlying impatience in his voice, “what do you want?”

“Wooow Korekiyo, y’know this is the girl’s bathroom, right?” Kokichi gasped ignoring him, “I was only like half-serious when I came in here, but you’re a total pervert, huh.”

Korekiyo was glaring at him now, and Kokichi couldn’t help but notice the way his hands had twitched for a brief moment as if trying to curl into fists. He was slipping.

“So!” Kokichi piped up once their little stare down was over, “who were you talking to—Whoops sorry! Trying to talk to.”

“That’s none of your concern,” Korekiyo said just a little too hastily.

“Ok fine, but if you’re not going to tell me then I’ll just have to guess!” Kokichi said, eagerly pumping his fists in front of him before settling with a lazy smile when Korekiyo glared at him, “Just kidding! I already know who it is! You’re more of a masochist then Shuichi if you’re _still_ talking to her!”

Korekiyo’s hands did clench into fists that time.

Kokichi gripped the edge of the sink as he leaned backwards, “I mean didn’t _she_ like totally betray you even after you killed Angie and Tenko for _her_”

An unidentifiable emotion flickered across Korekiyo’s face; it was so quick Kokichi nearly missed it. Nearly.

“But I guess you didn’t really kill them did you… Y’know they’re probably wandering around this lovely place as we speak, alive and well.”

Korekiyo took a step towards Kokichi, expression eerily calm.

“Hold on!” said Kokichi cupping one hand around his ear as if to hear better while holding the other out to halt Korekiyo’s approach, “oh wait that’s right, nothing.”

Kokichi boosted himself onto the sink as Korekiyo took another step forward so that they height between them was level.

“You wanna know why _she’s _not talking to you anymore, ‘cause I’ll tell you. No lies this time! Cross my heart and hope to die!” Kokichi crossed himself before adopting one his most sinister expressions, “She’s not answering, because _you_ don’t want her to”

“Be quiet” said Korekiyo, his voice sounded strained.

“I mean come on! First she’s all like go murder your ‘friends’ for me. Then, after you go do exactly what she tells you to do, you get executed super brutally. But you’re all like ‘no big deal’ right, ‘cause you’ll get to be with _her_ again, and right when she’s finally in your grasp… WHAM! She’s throwing salt at you with Monokuma, laughing at you for being stupid enough to listen. Your sister’s a _total _bitch.”

That was the last straw for Korekiyo who let out an enraged roar as he lunged at Kokichi, knocking him backwards into the sink. Kokichi’s head hit the mirror with a drawn-out clang which dampened the pain of the sharp sink faucet digging into his back. Korekiyo’s bandaged hands were wrapped tightly around his throat, there wasn’t enough pressure to cut off his air flow yet, but he couldn’t help but wheeze a little as the sudden pressure. The sink faucet dug uncomfortably into Kokichi’s lower back as he shifted so he could grab onto Korekiyo’s wrists in a loose but steady grip.

“Don’t talk about _her_,” Korekiyo hissed.

It took Kokichi a moment to get his next words out, Korekiyo’s grip was making it hard to breathe --which was saying something since his lungs really weren’t cooperating today to begin with.

“Are you sure?” Kokichi asked innocently, “because I was lying before when I said I didn’t hear anything, and she wants to talk to you.”

“What are you talking about?” Korekiyo’s glare made it clear he knew what Kokichi was trying to do but he asked anyways.

Kokichi closed his eyes for a few moments before giving Korekiyo a blank smile, this time he spoke in a shrill imitation of a woman’s voice, “Sweet Korekiyo you mustn’t let him deceive you”

Korekiyo’s breathing sped up.

“You know I love you Korekiyo” Kokichi continued, “But you’ve disappointed me”

Korekiyo’s face was pale.

“You said you’d find me friends but look what’s happened, what _always_ happens” Kokichi’s smile dropped, “I thought you loved me Korekiyo”

Korekiyo’s hands were trembling, and when he spoke it was as if he were in a daze, “I-I do—You’re the only one that matters to me.”

“Calm yourself Korekiyo. You still have time to correct your mistake, they are both wandering these halls as we speak,” Kokichi said, voice painfully high-pitched and sickly sweet.

“I-I—Yes that’s right,” Korekiyo relaxed his grip.

“You won’t disappoint me this time, will you? You wouldn’t want to upset me again, would you?” Kokichi asked as he knocked Korekiyo’s hands from around his throat.

“N-No I would never dream of—” Korekiyo fumbled with his words.

“But you did.” Kokichi pushed himself back to his perch on the edge of the sink, reaching one hand behind himself to unscrew the faucet. Korekiyo took a step back in response, gaze firmly fixed on the floor. “You said you’d find me friends but that’s not what you did is it? That’s why I had to punish you Korekiyo, you understand right?”

“Y-Yes—Yes, “Korekiyo rasped out between quick breaths, “I won’t do it again—Please, sister.” 

Korekiyo had slowly let himself slump to the floor as his breathing sped up. His face was white as a sheet and dotted with sweat, and his hair was clenched tightly in his hands as he curled into a ball. Kokichi stared at him dispassionately for a moment before pressing the heel of his shoe into his back.

“I know you won’t,” Kokichi dug his foot in hard, just to drive the point home, before the faucet handle finally came loose in his hand and he slammed it into the back of Korekiyo’s head.

The first hit seemed to do the trick and Korekiyo crumpled to the ground wordlessly. Kokichi hopped down from his spot on the sink, dropping the bloodied sink handle in the sink, so he could check that Korekiyo was really out. He only just finished checking is pulse when he was interrupted by the whooshing sound of the bathroom door swinging open followed by a shocked gasp. There standing in the doorway, alive and well, was a horrified looking Kaede.

“Wha--?” Kaede was at a loss for words.

“Kaede,” Kokichi exclaimed, turning around and stepping around Korekiyo to stand in front of her, “What are you doing here?”

“What-- I—This is the _girl’s _bathroom you guys are the ones that shouldn’t be in here!” Kaede shouted before crossing her arms and frowning in disapproval, “you shouldn’t be in here Oma.”

“Me,” Kokichi gasped dramatically before taking on a more despondent expression, “but Korekiyo was the one who wanted to do it here…”

“Do what?” Kaede looked skeptical.

“Swear his loyalty to me so he could join my super-secret organization,” Kokichi said with causal wave of his hand and a glance over his shoulder at the still unconscious Korekiyo, “the honor was just too much for him though and he fainted.”

Kaede gave Korekiyo a concerned look but she didn’t step forwards to check on him, “Your lying again, aren’t you? Did you do something to him.”

“I’m not lying, he was like that when I found him,” said Kokichi said with a smile.

Kaede frowned disapprovingly, “You just said that he fainted.”

Kokichi sighed loudly, “Fine, you got me. That was a lie,” Kokichi’s demeanor shifted flawlessly into one of tearful desperation as he bit his thumb, “But I only lied because I had too, for my own safety! I _accidently _walk into the girl’s bathroom and now I’m stuck here with two killers! Korekiyo was acting crazy! I did what I had to, to survive! I don’t want to die here!”

Kaede’s face immediately went pale and for a moment Kokichi wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to keep her composure. Kaede let out a strained breath before she looked back up at him, finally registering what his words implied about the three people standing in the girl’s bathroom at that moment.

“Hold on a second what did you just say?” Kaede asked a little worriedly.

Kokichi cocked his head to the side, bringing his finger to his lips, “Hm, Did I say something?”

“Oma!” Kaede’s voice cracked a little as she yelled.

“Uh-ohhh! Kaede’s yelling at me again!” Kokichi said, Kaede looked flustered, “but you wanted to know what I meant when I said there were _two_ killers in this room, right? Well that’s pretty obvious don’tcha think? You’re the first one of course, and _obviously _I didn’t kill anyone so that just leaves our resident serial killer Korekiyo over there”

“S-Serial killer?” Kaede looked a little sick.

“Yeah isn’t it cool?!” Kokichi pumped his fists as Kaede’s face turned a sickly shade of white. “He killed two people completely unprovoked, just because! Aww man, if only I’d thought of that, killing everyone to prevent a class trial would’ve been sooo much easier.”

“Y-You don’t mean that,” Kaede looked like she was going to be sick for real.

Kokichi backed up until he was out of the splash zone before he threw his hands behind his head and smiled, “Wow Kaede you should see your face right now! I can’t believe you fell for that! I was just kidding around!”

Kaede just stared at him for a moment in disbelief before her horror shifted into anger. She puffed her cheeks and glared at Kokichi, “So that was all a lie!”

“Yep!” Kokichi chirped cheerfully, “The only murderer here is you!”

“Y-You can’t just lie about stuff like that Oma!” Kaede said still angry but somewhat subdued.

“Why not?” Kokichi asked innocently tilting his head to the side, “I mean it’s not like any of it really matters anymore right? Everyone’s still alive again so who care what happened during the killing game.”

“You’re wrong Oma!” Kaede said after a moment of silence, “Maybe the killing game was just a simulation, but our feelings and the bonds we formed were real. Rantaro may be alive now but that doesn’t mean I didn’t kill him. I killed one of our precious friends and I can’t just forget it! I can’t just pretend like it never happened, and you can’t either!”

Kokichi gave her a noncommittal shrug in response, “That’s pretty optimistic of you. Are you sure you really want to call all these people your friends? Even if Korekiyo here didn’t kill anyone, I know you’re not naive enough to believe your trial was the only one.”

“E-Even if that’s true,” Kaede said, chewing her bottom lip, “It doesn’t mean we can’t work together now.”

“You really are going to be the first one killed if you keep going on like that y’know,” Kokichi said.

“Geez… didn’t I already tell you things like that are better left unsaid?” Kaede sounded exasperated.

“Really? Then I won’t say anything else. Promise!” Kokichi said with a grin.

“Somehow I don’t think that’s the truth,” Kaede said, she sounded tried.

“Well who knows! I’m a liar after all!” Kokichi said bringing a finger to his lips as he flashed her a mischievous grin, “Anyway, why don’t you be a good minion and give me a piece of paper.”

“What do you need paper for?” Kaede asked, even as she shrugged her backpack from her shoulders and began to dig through it.

Kokichi snatched the paper from Kaede’s hand before she even had a chance to say anything, roughly shoving it into his pocket, “That’s a secret! You’ll have to join my organization if you want to know my master plan! So whaddya say, join me and together we can stand above all the normies in this world!”

“I think you’re letting your imagination run wild again Oma, and I refuse to join your organization. You’re probably just lying again anyway!” Kaede said with a frown.

“Awww, that’s a shame you would’ve been a really great agent of chaos,” Kokichi said with a sigh.

“A-Anyway, we really need to find a way out of here,” Kaede looked a little flustered, “There has to be something here that can help us.”

Kokichi rocked backwards on his heels as he spoke, “Weeell, there was that one thing…” Kaede’s face brightened a little, “but I’m not telling!”

“Wha--!” Kaede’s mouth fell open as Kokichi crossed his arms in a way that was a little too similar to a stubborn toddler, “Why not?!”

“I don’t wanna!” Kokichi balled his hands into fists as he stomped his foot on the ground, working his towards what looked like a full-blown temper tantrum.

Kaede’s face was a mixture of helpless confusion and irritation as she stared at Kokichi mouth agape, like she was waiting for him to laugh in her face and tell her he’d lying. “Stop screwing around!” Kaede managed finally, though she still didn’t look like she was completely sure he was.

“Why? You mad?” Kokichi brought a finger to lips as he tilted his head in question, “I can’t believe you actually fell for that! Hey, y’know if you _really _want to leave so badly all you’ve gotta do if kill someone, it’s not like you haven’t done it before!”

Kaede glared at him before letting out a frustrated breath and turning towards the door, “Shut up! If you’re just going to mess around, then I’m going to go. There has to be a way for all of us to get out of here and I don’t have time to waste listening to you! Just-- Don’t do anything stupid!”

Kokichi smiled at her as she left, giving her a little wave as the door swung shut behind her. The timing was perfect, and it was less than a minute later that he heard a low groan behind him followed by the rustling of fabric. Korekiyo was awake and Kokichi had a feeling he was going to be a little mad when he realized what had happened. Korekiyo was still on his knees when Kokichi turned to face him, one hand on the sink to pull himself up and the other clutching the part of his head that was still bleeding.

Kokichi knew that this would probably be a good time to run, which he would have normally done, but there was an opportunity in front of him and he was going to use whatever he could to beat this game. So instead of following Kaede’s example and booking it as soon as he was out of the bathroom, he took a step towards the still woozy Korekiyo.

“You,” Korekiyo growled as he was able to focus his vison on Kokichi.

Even though Korekiyo still seemed a little disoriented the intent behind the word was clear. Korekiyo had known he was lying when he’d spoke for ‘sister’ but he’d played along because he wanted so desperately to believe that lie. Kokichi had shattered the illusion when he’d knocked him out and Korekiyo looked understandably angry at being played the fool.

“Yeah, that was all a lie,” Kokichi studied his nails as he spoke, “Man, I can’t believe you actually fell for that Korekiyo. Ghosts aren’t real y’know”

Korekiyo let go of his head and regarded his pink-stained hand for a moment before fixing Kokichi with an icy glare, “Shut up! I won’t listen to your lies any longer.”

“Nee-heehee… Now that sounds like a lie!” Kokichi said with a grin that was just a little condescending.

Kokichi barely had a chance to latch on the Korekiyo’s wrist as he was grabbed roughly by the front of his shirt and slammed backwards into the mirror. The mirror rattled threateningly as he made contact and Kokichi was pretty sure another good slam would send the whole thing crashing down.

“You’ll forgive me if I get rid of him won’t you sister,” Korekiyo was muttering to himself again, “I won’t let him twist our love with his deceptions.”

“Man, this is taking _forever_,” Kokichi complained loudly after few minutes of listening to Korekiyo’s mumbling, shifting in Korekiyo’s grip, standing was really starting to tire him out. “What makes you so sure she’s even listening. How do you know she’s not just another one of the Mastermind’s lies, just a plot point to give all the people watching a good show?”

Korekiyo shook his head as if that would dislodge the doubt embedding itself in his mind, “You expect me to believe the words of someone as disingenuous as you.”

“Ugh, who cares! This is totally lame,” Kokichi snapped, “why don’t you just stop talking to your bitch sister and do _something_!”

Korekiyo responded by pulling Kokichi forwards before slamming him back against the mirror, harder this time. It took Kokichi a moment to catch his breath and it was Korekiyo’s grip on his shirt that kept him on his feet as the pain made his knees go weak. He grinned as soon as he was able to stand by himself; the sharp snap he’d heard as his head hit the mirror hadn’t just been his skull hitting the glass, the mirror had cracked, and it wouldn’t take much now.

Korekiyo’s breathing was quick as his wrapped his hands back around Kokichi’s throat. His pupils were horribly overblown, and he was trembling as he began to press down. Kokichi wasn’t sure whether it was funny or pathetic that Korekiyo looked so scared when he was the one being strangled, but he was pretty sure he’d laugh at him either way if he had the breath to do so. Instead he brought his head forwards and in a sudden movement slammed it back against the mirror.

The mirror shattered instantly, causing Korekiyo to release Kokichi as glass rained down on both of them. Kokichi took the opportunity to punch Korekiyo hard in the gut as he sprinted for the door. He spared Korekiyo, who was gasping for breath on his knees surrounded by hundreds of shards of glass, a quick glance before swiftly leabing the bathroom. He kept his pace to a brisk walk as he rounded the first corridor; he needed some distance but running was off the table while the room was still spinning around him like a funhouse.

He loosened his scarf as he walked, the fabric felt stifling against the hand shape bruises quickly beginning to form around his neck but he wasn’t about to take it off and advertise his weaknesses. His head was still a little fuzzy and he was pretty sure he was bleeding, if the glass shards hadn’t done it then the multiple impacts must have, and the warm liquid had begun to run down his neck to the collar of his shirt. Thinking back, he probably should’ve checked for a concussion before he left, the mirror in the boy’s bathroom was probably still intact, but who really knew how long Korekiyo would be occupied for.

Kokichi opened the first door he came across. He kinda doubted that Korekiyo would follow him that far but he did need to sit down for a second just until his vision became a little less fuzzy. The room turned out to be some sort of storage closet, but he didn’t pay it much mind as he slid to the floor against the wall next to the door. He reached a hand behind his head to check for blood, trying all the while to blink away the darkness dancing in the peripherals of his vision. His hand came back pink as the word seemed to flip as his vision centered in on the hot pink substance.

Kokichi woke with a start. His head throbbed painfully as he pulled himself to his feet and he felt a bone-deep kind of sore. It took him a second to realize where he was and that he passed out but the sight of the camera in the corner of the room brought it all back real quick. He blew Tsumugi a quick kiss, because he knew she was watching, before giving any real attention to his surroundings.

There was a pink stain on the wall he’d been leaning against and it was then that he noticed the blood on his hand was dry and a quick check confirmed that his head had stopped bleeding some time ago. There was a large metal shelf in the center of the room separating the two halves and he was pretty impressed when he found a mop with the handle filed to a sharp point leaning against the shelf. The real kicker came when he rounded the shelf to the other side of the room.

Keeboy was lying in a heap at the far end of the storage room, eyes filled with static, and if he weren’t a robot Kokichi may have actually been concerned he was dead. He crouched down in front Keeboy and gave him a good poke, and then another.

“Wow Keeboy are you actually sleeping, that’s so lame!” Kokichi laughed as he continued to poke him.

It was entirely by accident or maybe luck, though whether it was Kokichi’s good luck or Keebo’s bad luck was up for debate, that Kokichi found the button. The button was bright red and located on the outside of the robot’s collar and so of course he pressed it… multiple times. It took a second for anything to happen, and Kokichi had begun to think that the button was just going to be another let down, but after an agonizing 10 seconds the static in Keebo’s eyes flickered back to normal and Oma inched a little closer to get a better look as the robot woke up.

“Wha—Kokichi!” Keebo jerked back in surprise at finding Kokichi mere inches away from his face.

“Wow Keeboy, you never told me you had an off button!” Kokichi exclaimed pumping his fists like a child who had just found a new favorite toy.

Keebo paled, “Hold on—" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this took way to long, things are pretty busy at the moment so updates are probably going to be pretty sporadic until around July when I'll have more time to work one this.
> 
> P.S I reformatted the other chapters into block text and did some minor editing, I’ll probably do a full check for mistakes later this week.


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